The Breaks: This Week in DMV Hip-Hop

The first June installment of the Breaks features new videos from Beyond Modern and Shy Glizzy, a Logic interview with XXL magazine and a few local hip-hop shows this weekend. Oh, and Wale and Complex magazine finally made nice.

It's good to see Wale and Complex bury the hatchet. Many have forgotten that sneakers were Wale’s "thing" when he first emerged about a decade ago. Wale also joined Fat Trel, Gunplay, Rockie Fresh, French Montana, and Tracy T on Rick Ross' "Finals 2," which was released in honor of the start of the NBA Finals last night. Shy Glizzy Might Catch a Body In the Cam Kirk-directed video for "Catch a Body," Shy Glizzy's latest release from Young Jefe, the D.C. rapper considers every situation where him committing a homicide might be the outcome. Along the way, he offers sage advice for "business" associates unfamiliar with The Wire: Don’t talk about drugs on the phone. Otherwise, he might shoot you with no mask on, because he’s that brazen. Still, Shy Glizzy has bigger problems:

I got profiled by TSA for having too much cash on me — $hy Glizzy (@ShyGlizzy) June 4, 2014

Sometimes, it's like that.

Logic Opens Up About His Past
In a candid interview with XXL, the Gaithersburg, Md., rapper revealed that one of the main themes of his upcoming Def Jam debut is his rough upbringing:

The album is all 100 percent the story. Like it’s crazy. I’ve been saying with the mixtape, I’ve been telling you—you know my father and mother were both drug addicts and alcoholics, you know my dad smoked crack, you know my dad wasn’t in my life. You know my mother was stabbed, you know I came up on welfare and food stamps in Section 8. But I’m actually taking you to what it was like. I got a record on the album where I’m laying in bed and talking about the things going through my mind at that age with this eviction notice on my door and my homie going to jail for attempted murder for slicing this dude’s stomach open...having his guts fall on the cement. That was my best friend, you know?

He also offered an update on the status of his promised While You Wait EP. "It’s gonna be for free and we’re looking into releasing it," he told XXL. "It’s one of those things, like, honestly, people just want the album so bad that if things line up before the EP we might just fuck around and unleash the album and get you guys ready and release the singles and the videos."

Logic’s While You Wait tour will visit the Fillmore Silver Spring on July 1.

Beyond Modern Gets Explicit
If you were accustomed to Beyond Modern’s usual bright, fun-loving sound, they tore that wall down with their new video for "Facedown." If the title doesn’t hint at the song’s theme, 1st Impressions Studio’s dark video makes it very clear that the duo is rather unapologetic when talking about sex. The porn star voiceover helps to establish the theme, and Mick Marx and Sur Jazz trade brash lines like "You ain’t heard? I’m a muthafuckin’ sex symbol" and "Get a few likes, give her that pipe/Bust a couple off like it’s Nerf or somethin.'" It’s probably best listened to—and viewed—after hours, but it’s new, graphic territory for them. It should get people, um, excited for Beyond Modern's next project, Distorted Reality.

D-Nice, Future and August Alsina in Town This Weekend
The Lodge at Red Rocks very quietly recruits hip-hop talent ranging from significant to legendary for DJ sets on a weekly basis. Last week it was Large Professor, and tomorrow night it’s D-Nice. The rapper, producer and DJ is best known for his work with Boogie Down Productions, but he also had a hand in a very young Kid Rock’s early career. Tomorrow, he’ll appear alongside DJ Jerome Baker lll and Sharkey. The party begins at 8 p.m. and there’s no cover.

As I wrote in the Summer Music Guide, Future will be at the Fillmore Silver Spring on Sunday, where "Move That Dope" will start a damn riot. The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets start at $27.50. Also, "I Luv This Shit" singer August Alsina will be at the Howard Theatre on Sunday, adding to an already busy weekend. That show also starts at 8 p.m., with tickets ranging from $55 to $75.